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Many
people are curious about karatage. This is an explanation of the different
alloys and the advantages of each .
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24
karat is PURE GOLD
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24 karat is rarely found in jewelry sold in this country.
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18
karat is 75% pure gold
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14
karat is 58.5% gold
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12
karat is 50% gold
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10 karat is 41.6% gold
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10
karat gold is the minimum percentage that legally can be called gold
in the United States,
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When
comparing prices, a piece of 18-karat gold jewelry will be more expensive
because of the higher percentage of gold in it.
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Both
14 karat and 18 karat gold pieces share the similiar properties of
strength, hardness and wear.
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Similiar to
the four C's of diamonds, there are generally four factors that affect
the price of gold jewelry:
- Karatage:
the amount of gold in the piece.
- Design:
whether the piece is produced in a limited amount or mass
quantities.
- Construction:
how the piece is made.
- Weight:
gold is measured by grams or pennyweight (dwt).
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Numbers
stamped on gold jewelry signify the amount of gold in the piece:
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Pure
gold is 24-karat or 1,000 fine.
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18-karat
gold is 750 fine.
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14-karat
gold is 585 fine.
Karat marks often
are followed by a sign of the country
of origin
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The color of
karat gold jewelry depends on what metals are used to alloy the piece.
- Manufacturers
use different proportions of the alloys, sometime for technical reasons.
- Some metals, such
as silver, copper and palladium, are added to gold for strength and
durability. They also alter the color. Because copper is red, adding
more copper gives the gold a rose tint. Using white metals such as silver,
zinc, palladium and nickel makes gold a paler yellow or white.
- Green gold is
produced by varying proportions of silver and copper, nickel or palladium.
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